HISTORY OF JEWS SERIES PROPHECY Beginnings of the Jews (Genesis 12:1-7)

HISTORY OF JEWS SERIES PROPHECY Beginnings of the Jews (Genesis 12:1-7) The history of the Jewish people is a long one. The root of the nation is around 4,000 years old and is centred in the person of Abraham. The continued existence of the Jewish people through the ages is a testimony to the truth of Scripture. It is a great mystery and miracle to the world. The king of Prussia, Frederick the Great (1712 1786) was discussing the Bible with his chaplain. He was a sceptic, who had been influenced by the writings of the famous infidel, Voltaire. Frederick challenged his chaplain to state in one word proof that the Bible is the Word of God. To the amazement of Frederick, the chaplain agreed to the challenge. When he was asked then for the one word the chaplain simply replied, Israel. The continuing existence of the Jews as a distinct race of people for the last 4,000 years attests to the unconditional covenantal promises that God gave to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, and David. Throughout the intervening centuries the Jews have outlived all the other great civilizations and empires. The Egyptians, Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, Greeks, and Romans subjugated Israel. The Tsars of Russia sponsored pogroms and the Third Reich of Germany launched the savage holocaust but none destroyed them. Despite centuries of oppression, enslavement, discrimination, scattering, and genocide the Jews flourish all over this planet. They are blessing to the nations yet remain distinct as an unassimilated race of people. God promised Israel would be a distinct people and God promised that they would be a blessing to the Gentile nations. He has kept all His promises. The Jewish people are a vital study for Gentile Christians. Their history is a puzzle that can only be explained through the light of the Scriptures. They are the unique element of redemptive history most of the Bible was written by Jews, the Lord Jesus Christ was a Jew, the twelve apostles were Jews, and most of the first Christians were Jewish. Furthermore, they are a central part of the future of this world. God has not finished with the Jewish people. So we should pay close attention to their history and their promised future. Benjamin Disraeli (1804 1881) grew up in a Jewish home and eventually became Prime Minister of the UK. He converted to Christianity in his teens. Disraeli once observed of the importance of Judaism to Christianity, In all church discussions we are apt to forget the second Testament is avowedly only a supplement. Jesus came to complete the law and the prophets. Christianity is completed Judaism, or it is nothing. Christianity is incomprehensible without Judaism, as Judaism is incomplete without Christianity. GOD S ANCIENT PROMISES TO ISRAEL The earliest references to the Jewish people are found in Genesis. When God called the childless, Abraham from Ur of the Chaldees (modern Iraq), the Lord promised Abraham, Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father s house, unto a land that I will shew thee: And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. (Gen. 12:1-3) www.oldfaith.wordpress.com 1

And Abram passed through the land unto the place of Sichem, unto the plain of Moreh. And the Canaanite was then in the land. And the LORD appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land: and there builded he an altar unto the LORD, who appeared unto him. (Gen. 12:6-7) Abraham was being asked to forsake everything that was important in this life in order to follow God s sovereign call. The Lord then made an unconditional covenant with Abraham for himself and his seed, which promised to Abraham: (1) God would make from His descendants a great nation, And I will make of thee a great nation. (2) God would make Abraham s name great, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing. Even today in the Middle East and around the world, the name of Abraham is honoured. The three religions of Judaism, Islam, and Christianity are united in their estimation of the memory of this man. (3) God would bless those who blessed Abraham s descendants and curse those who cursed them, And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee. (4) God would use Abraham s descendants to be a blessing to the families or nations of the earth, and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed. (5) God would give Abraham and his descendant the land of Canaan, Unto thy seed will I give this land. (cf. Gen. 13:15; 24:7; 26:4; Deut. 34:4; 1 Chron. 16:15-19). In Genesis 17 the Lord reveals some more information in this great covenant with Abraham: As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations. Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee. And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee. And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee. And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God. (Gen. 17:4-8) In this re-statement of the Genesis 12 covenant, the Lord now reveals for the first time that royal blood will flow from Abraham s ancestors, and kings shall come out of thee. Abraham will now have his name changed in anticipation of God s promises to him. Instead of being known as Abram meaning Exalted Father he will be called Abraham meaning Father of a Multitude, because the Lord reveals, for a father of many nations have I made thee. Even more significantly, Abraham is told by the Lord that the Promised Land of Canaan would be an eternal possession of Abraham s descendants, And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God. The Lord did not promise that every generation of Jews will occupy the land, but that the Jewish people would be entitled to possess it eternally. Two generations later, the Lord reiterated the same covenantal promises to Abraham s grandson, www.oldfaith.wordpress.com 2

And God said unto him, Thy name is Jacob: thy name shall not be called any more Jacob, but Israel shall be thy name: and he called his name Israel. And God said unto him, I am God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall be of thee, and kings shall come out of thy loins; And the land which I gave Abraham and Isaac, to thee I will give it, and to thy seed after thee will I give the land. (Gen. 35:10-12) The promises to Abraham and Jacob were unconditional. However, the Lord made clear that there were some conditional aspects of His promises to every generation. Each generation were warned by Moses that their personal occupation of the land was conditional of their obedience to God s law, When thou shalt beget children, and children s children, and ye shall have remained long in the land, and shall corrupt yourselves, and make a graven image, or the likeness of any thing, and shall do evil in the sight of the LORD thy God, to provoke him to anger: I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that ye shall soon utterly perish from off the land whereunto ye go over Jordan to possess it; ye shall not prolong your days upon it, but shall utterly be destroyed. And the LORD shall scatter you among the nations, and ye shall be left few in number among the heathen, whither the LORD shall lead you. (Deut. 4:25-27; cf. 5:31-33; 28; Neh. 1:8-9.) So while the land was unconditionally promised to Abraham and his descendants as a possession, physical occupation of the land was not promised unconditionally. However, later in biblically history, the Lord gave unconditional promises to David and his descendants concerning the occupation of the land, Moreover I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and will plant them, that they may dwell in a place of their own, and move no more; neither shall the children of wickedness afflict them any more, as beforetime, And as since the time that I commanded judges to be over my people Israel, and have caused thee to rest from all thine enemies. Also the LORD telleth thee that he will make thee an house. And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build an house for my name, and I will stablish the throne of his kingdom for ever. I will be his father, and he shall be my son. If he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men: But my mercy shall not depart away from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away before thee. And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established for ever before thee: thy throne shall be established for ever. (2 Samuel 7:10-16) So the Lord promised to David that there would come a point in biblical and world history when the Jews would receive their land for a perpetual possession which would be occupied in continual peace, Moreover I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and will plant them, that they may dwell in a place of their own, and move no more; neither shall the children of wickedness afflict them any more, as www.oldfaith.wordpress.com 3

beforetime. We have clearly not reached the fulfillment of that promise yet. There is no peace in the land of Israel. The restoration of the land in 1948 to the scattered Jewish people who had been scattered for nineteen centuries may well have been the beginning of the fulfillment of this promise. WHY DID GOD CHOOSE THE JEWS? It is God who chooses to sovereignly raise up all nations, And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation (Acts 17:26) and all kings and rulers, And He changeth the times and the seasons: He removeth kings, and setteth up kings: He giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding (Dan. 2:21; cf. Psa. 75:7. The Jewish people are a special people on this earth. God sovereignly choose the Jews as His people, For the LORD hath chosen Jacob unto Himself, and Israel for His peculiar treasure (Psa. 135:4; cf. Deut. 14:2; Hosea 11:1). This was a sovereign choice and not based upon any impressive external criteria of Israel, For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God: the LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth. The LORD did not set his love upon you, nor choose you, because ye were more in number than any people; for ye were the fewest of all people (Deut. 7:6-7) God warns those who attack the Jews that they are touching something very special to Him, For thus saith the LORD of hosts; After the glory hath he sent me unto the nations which spoiled you: for he that toucheth you toucheth the apple of his eye (Zech. 2:8) PRIVILEGES OF THE JEWS In Romans 9, the Apostle Paul lists the great spiritual blessings or privileges they have, Who are Israelites; to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises; Whose are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen. (Rom. 9:4-5) These advantages here made their widespread rejection of Christ even worse. Paul lists 8 wonderful blessings that they uniquely had: (a) ADOPTION Israel was a special nation. They alone were chosen by God, as He told Pharaoh, Thus saith the LORD, Israel is my son, even my firstborn (Exod. 4:22; cf. Jer. 31:9). (b) GLORY God had uniquely privileged Israel with special revelations of His divine glory. They had the pillar of cloud and fire during the 40 years in the wilderness. They saw the Shekinah glory in the tabernacle (Exod. 40:34) and later in the temple (1 Kings 8:11). (c) COVENANTS A covenant is a sovereign pledge motivated by God s grace and love to promise by an oath to do something. Israel alone was given precious promises covenantal pledges by God. This was a unique relationship. No other nation has or ever will have these. They are a people governed directly by God. Indeed, God made no covenants with the Gentiles www.oldfaith.wordpress.com 4

as nations. Abraham received the first great covenant in Genesis 12 which was further elaborated upon in Genesis 15, 17, and 22. There was also the great Davidic Covenant promising the eternal kingdom in 2 Samuel 7. (d) GIVING OF THE LAW It was Israel who were given the OT Scriptures, Much every way: chiefly, because that unto them were committed the oracles of God. (Rom. 3:2). The chief or greatest advantage a Jew had was that God had entrusted Israel the oracles or utterances of God in the written OT Scriptures. No other nation had this privilege (Deut. 4:8; Psa. 147:19-20). The Jews had all the Gospel truth in the written revelation of the OT (John 5:39; Luke 16:29). This was an immeasurable privilege and advantage. William Cowper wrote, They and they only amongst all mankind received the transcript of the Eternal Mind, Were trusted with His own engraven laws, And constituted guardians of His cause. Theirs were the prophets, theirs the priestly call, And theirs by birth the Saviour of us all. Many centuries before Christ, the Jews grew complacent with this great privilege of having the written Word of God. They often disobeyed it, ignored it, and later reverenced the traditions of the rabbis over the Word of God. Christ rebuked the Sadducees for this, Do ye not therefore err, because ye know not the scriptures, neither the power of God? (Mark 12:24). (e) SERVICE TO GOD - This refers to the entire sacrificial and ceremonial system entrusted to Israel by God. Within this was all the shadows and types that pointed to Christ thereby dramatically revealing the truths of the gospel. (f) PROMISES It was Israel that received these great Messianic promises. The Apostle Paul deals with these in great detail in Galatians 3. (g) THE FATHERS Israel was privileged to have not just one but a series of great patriarchs in their history Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. They also had giants in the faith throughout their history such as Joseph, Moses, Joshua, Caleb, Hannah, Samuel, Daniel etc. (h) LORD JESUS CHRIST The Apostle climaxes this list with the greatest blessing the Jews possessed. They had the immeasurable privilege of having Jesus Christ the Saviour of the world to be born from a Jewish lineage. He grew up a Jew in the confines of Palestine, where He ministered amongst them. Christ testified of this truth as, Salvation is of the Jews. Israel truly lacked nothing as a nation. No other nation was blessed like this nation. The problem with many of the Jews is that they wanted God s favour unconditionally in the matter of salvation. They wanted a right to heaven despite their sins and rejection of the righteousness of Christ. However, with high privilege came high responsibility. This is well exemplified by God s declaration through Amos to Israel, www.oldfaith.wordpress.com 5

You only have I known of all the families of the earth: therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities. (Amos 3:2) CONCLUSION Throughout the OT Scripture, God promised to preserve His unconditional covenant with the Jewish people. For instance the Psalmist records in Psalm 89, I will sing of the mercies of the LORD for ever: with my mouth will I make known thy faithfulness to all generations. For I have said, Mercy shall be built up for ever: thy faithfulness shalt thou establish in the very heavens. I have made a covenant with my chosen, I have sworn unto David my servant, Thy seed will I establish for ever, and build up thy throne to all generations. Selah. (v1-4) However, the individual Jew can place himself under the severe judgment of God by not participating in the covenantal blessings by unbelief, If his children forsake my law, and walk not in my judgments; If they break my statutes, and keep not my commandments; Then will I visit their transgression with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes. (v30-32) The rejection of the rebellious individual does not nullify the national covenantal promises to the Jewish people as a nation, Nevertheless my lovingkindness will I not utterly take from him, nor suffer my faithfulness to fail. My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips. Once have I sworn by my holiness that I will not lie unto David. His seed shall endure for ever, and his throne as the sun before me. It shall be established for ever as the moon, and as a faithful witness in heaven. Selah. (v33-37) These promises have not been broken nor will they ever be broken. That is why there are Christian Jews throughout this world today. They are not just God s ancient people, but they are His people today. All of the promises given by God to Abraham, Moses, and David must be fulfilled to the Jewish people. Nothing can thwart God s plans, purposes, and promises. www.oldfaith.wordpress.com 6